When to sow coneflowers in Santiago de Querétaro

Why these dates

Plant out after the last frost, or sow indoors ten weeks before it - seed germinates better after a few weeks of cold, so autumn sowing outdoors works too. Expect leaves in year one and a full display in year two. Leave the stems standing over winter for the birds and cut them down in spring.

Hardy to -30C. Dislikes winter wet far more than winter cold, and the commonest cause of loss is a heavy soil that stays saturated rather than a hard freeze.

Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Coneflowers are timed from 10 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Santiago de Querétaro.

Santiago de Querétaro sits in zone 10a, which is milder than this crop wants, and a winter that never really arrives is its own problem. The dates below still describe the right time of year; the open question is survival rather than timing.

Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 1, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.

See every crop timed for Santiago de Querétaro →